Blood Flower

 Creak… Groan…

The carriage shuddered violently, its wooden frame groaning as it bounced over jagged stones. Eldred gritted his teeth, gripping the splintered edge of his seat. Every jolt sent him lurching forward, his body barely holding firm against the merciless ride.

Thud!

He slammed back into the seat, a sharp pain flaring across his spine. His fingers curled into fists. 'The firstborn of Arnold household… reduced to this? An unstable, lowborn carriage, all because I lack the talent for magic?'

Eldred's gaze darkened. 'This world truly is cruel from what I can see until now and from the kid's memories.'

***

By nightfall, the once distant mountain range seemed to have doubled in size in front of Eldred.

To his surprise, as he recalled what he knew about his surroundings, he realized the town bordering the southern shore wasn't just any settlement. It sat atop the Grand Mountain Range, acting as a natural barrier between the empire and the dangers lurking within the Hidden Cave's Forest.

Eldred had wondered how big the Grand Mountain Range would be when he reached the foot. Needless to say, he was also excited to get to the town and see the gates that teleport people to this world.

Indeed!

He had also discovered that a journey to the Western Region of the Heavenly Gate Empire could take months, if not years, by carriage.

Such a brutal journey would have once been unavoidable, but the Empire's First Generation Seven Pillars, revered as the pinnacle of magic in the Hidden Continent, had long since shattered such limitations after the emperor's request to make things easier for the masses.

These legendary figures, known for their terrifying magical affinity, inhuman comprehension, and unrivaled mastery of arcane trials, had devised a solution: the Teleportation Gates.

One reason the original owner of the body had taken on such a journey in the first place was mainly because of the teleportation gates, or else he would have never dared to leave the western region and go to the southern region.

After some hours, the carriage eventually stopped to set up camp near a small cluster of boulders. It was a good spot, with the rocks blocking off nearly all of the wind and a lot of scrap wood from fallen branches to use as a campfire.

'This truly ranks as top of my worst travels through a forest,' Eldred stated with certainty.

After all, the worst part of this journey wasn't the rough roads or the endless rattling of the carriage. No, what weighed on Eldred the most was the fact that he was still not cultivating.

And worse, he had chosen not to break the seal.

The thought gnawed at him, his fingers twitching at the urge to undo whatever restraints had been placed on this kid's body. Yet he hesitated. His father's summons had come without warning, and if the seal had anything to do with it… breaking it without knowing why could be a mistake.

So he endured. For now.

Patience had kept him alive before, and it would again. Acting recklessly now meant only one thing.

Death!

After setting up a couple of tents around the fire, Sara and Han had begun conversing about the hardships they had experienced in some of their past journeys till Sara built some courage and went to speak to Eldred, "You might have already noticed the change in my personality, but..."

The girl hesitated, fingers twitching as she avoided Eldred's gaze. "I… I was ordered to act that way," she admitted. "Even when I was alone, I forced myself to believe I should hate you. But Han… he never did. He kept being kind to you, no matter the orders he was given."

The girl opened her mouth to continue, but Eldred caught the unease in her eyes and cut her off. "Forget it, Sara. I never cared about what others thought in the first place, and your words didn't leave a scar on me."

'Not like it was directed at me in the first place,' He chuckled inwardly.

His voice was steady, unfazed as he continued. "Besides, just because my talent was nonexistent when I was young it doesn't mean that won't change after my magic awakening."

It was true that his family had already deemed his talent nonexistent. But there were cases where sheer pressure, the weight of countless peers watching, and the honor of one's bloodline on the line could force an awakening.

Eldred didn't believe he'd awaken just from pressure alone. But the seal on him, the one detected by the Book of Legends, was no coincidence. It had to be tied to his magic talent… and to why his family cast him out.

Guilt weighed on Sara, but she couldn't deny the warmth spreading inside her. 'Young Master doesn't hate me after all… I'll protect and serve him—no matter what!'

As Sara drifted into her thoughts, Eldred shifted, reaching down to pick up a Blood Flower from the ground.

"So this is the Poisonous Blood Flower… the one that grows where blood is spilled?" He nearly tossed it aside—until the Book of Legends floated before him.

A page flipped open on its own. New text appeared, etching itself onto the parchment with unimaginable speed.

Name: Blood Flower / Also known as Pure Flower.

Species: Flower

First Effect: Consuming more than fifty at the same time could make one enter berserker, elevating his strength by 50% and pushing all his attacks to the perfected state of comprehension.

Second Effect: Consuming 100 Blood Flowers before using a beast core doubles the core's Qi output. Consuming 1,000 Blood Flowers before absorption grants a slight chance of acquiring a random spell from the beast's species.

Eldred's mouth fell open as he stared at the text on the random page of the Book of Legends. His mind buzzed, struggling to process what he was seeing.

"This book… it's beyond valuable. This is insane!"